New Orleans is the best city in the United States for live music, cocktail hour and "cheap eats," according to the results of a Travel + Leisure/CNN Headline News poll released Wednesday. But, among the top 25 U.S. travel destinations as established by the poll, the city was voted last in terms of safety and cleanliness and near the bottom as a family vacation destination.

The results are based on an online survey conducted for more than two months on the Web sites of Travel + Leisure magazine and CNN. The poll generated nearly 60,000 responses.

New Orleans ranked No. 1 in eight categories, behind only New York which took the top spot in 15 categories. According to the results, New Orleans is the best city for both flea market and antique shopping and cheap food. The Big Easy also is the top spot for cocktail hour, live music, going out at night, "wild weekends" and "girlfriend getaways." Residents of the Big Easy are also the most fun, according to the poll results.

In several other categories New Orleans fell just shy of the top spot. New Orleans ranked second for gay friendliness, overall food and dining, friendliness of residents and people-watching, behind San Francisco, Chicago, Charleston and New York, respectively.

"We weren't surprised to see New Orleans' great performance," said Amy Farley, a senior editor at Travel + Leisure, which will print the complete results in its November issue. "New Orleans is legendary for its great after dark scene."

Not all of the results were good. This city's fun residents are also considered by visitors to be the least athletic. New Orleans was also voted the least clean destination, with the Minneapolis-St. Paul area occupying the top spot.

New Orleans' continuing crime woes also were reflected in the results. Voters said they felt least safe in New Orleans and most safe in Santa Fe, N.M.

"As far as crime is concerned, we have been top of the news, even though we hear from other cities that they have greater challenges," said Mary Beth Romig, a spokeswoman for the New Orleans Metropolitan Convention & Visitors Bureau said. "But as we continue to be top of the news it's easy to point to that as an issue."

But overall, Romig called the poll is "fantastic news" that the CVB will use to sell New Orleans to potential visitors.

"It just reinforces our hope that people have confidence in our destination despite all the bad news that permeates the media," Romig said. "This kind of public relations really helps the city."